Flabbergasped?
Master Don Juan
- Joined
- May 14, 2005
- Messages
- 542
- Reaction score
- 12
This is a long post. If you don't want to read my explanation for why I'm not going to do squats anymore, fast forward to the last section.
First, a little background:
My goals:
As some of you remember, I'm a breakdancer. After some analysis, I found out the most important muscles for bboying are back, shoulders, and abs. Therefore, I switched from Rippetoe's to target those areas better.
I also need to bang hotter chicks, and need to look better to that end. I have really long, skinny arms, sometimes uncomfortably skinny. People often think I'm a goof and am flailing my arms when I play sports, even though I'm totally in control; that's just because they're so skinny. Rippetoe's didn't help, all it did was help me put 20 lbs on my legs and make my upperbody strength-to-body weight ratio ****tier.
You may ask, since I certainly don't need the strength in the legs, what about the appearance? The only part of my lower body that needs work are my stick calves, but squats don't do anything there anyway!
This is my workout routine:
DAY 1(eg. Monday)
Squats 2 x 5
Squats or Leg Press 1 x 15 (lighter weight)
Good Mornings or Stiff Leg Deadlifts or Sumo Leg Press 2 x 10-15
Glute Ham Raise or Pullthroughs or Hyperextension 2 x 8
Calf Raises 2 x 10
DAY 2(eg. Wednesday)
Incline Press 2 x 5
Dumbbell Press (Flat/Decline) or Dips 2 x 8-10
Shoulder Press 2 x 8-12
Tricep Exercise 2 x 10-15
DAY 3(eg. Friday)
Deadlifts 2 x 5
Row or Chinup/Pulldown 2 x 8
Bicep Curl 2 x 8-10
Forearm Exercise 2 x 10-15
Lately, I've been slacking a letting myself recover a little too long, so I've been going to the gym about every 3 days.
My issues with squats:
1) They hurt. I actually dread squats whenever I go to the gym, and often put off going just because of the suffering squats cause me. It's actually one of my better exercises, I've maxed at about 1.5x my bodyweight, but it's a taxing exercise that just ****s up your back. Before you guys start nagging about my form, assure yourself that it is perfect (as per an experienced wrestling friend who can squat over 2.5x his body weight). Regardless of what you try to convince yourself, balancing a heavy load on your back will hit your spine, and during the course of the exercise, your lower back is hit hard too.
The last time I did squats, I did one set at 265 or 275, don't remember, and I couldn't do the second because it hurt just getting the bar off the rack. Again, my form is fine, and I could have powered through it, but I thought: "why rape my CNS for an exercise that is functionally useless to me?" Cutting squats out will get me in the gym more, since I don't dread getting my ass kicked again.
2) Legs are heavy.
I'm really looking for upper body and core strength. I could care less about how big or strong my legs are. As far as bboying goes, whatever raw leg strength you would need is covered by momentum in the advanced moves.
Unfortunately, big legs only slow you down and make it harder to be upside down. Granted, you can argue that good technique would overcome the added difficulty of the movements brought on by massive legs, but why make it harder on yourself?
Closing thoughts
1) I should have dropped squats a long time ago. Even though I have grown from them, the growth has more or less been useless, and the time I spent in recovery could have been put to something else (like more breakdancing practice). The only reason I kept squatting is because lifters here insisted that "all programs should be done as listed, don't change them, blah blah." That's a great way of thinking, if your lifting for general strength (which is what most skinny World of Warcraft nerds need). However, it doesn't make sense for a breakdancer to get his legs bigs.
2) I can't wait for some meathead to criticize my "attitude." There will be a deluge of posts that are like, "if you can't do squats, then your attitude needs work, not your *insert pithy analogy here*." That's batsh!t. I've been squatting more than long enough (almost a year) to know the benefits of the exercise. However, if the only reason I should keep squatting is so I can tell my friends that I squat big numbers, even though I don't need to squat big numbers for bboying or for chicks, I'm wasting my time and energy.
3) Note that I'm not dropping legs all together (so don't give me that "omg you're going to look wierd with big arms and small legs.) I'm simply doing doing squats (at least not low volume, heavy weight squats, which are useless in my opinion).
Questions for you:
1) Are there any dangers to not squatting, but doing opposing motions like the deadlift?
2) What are good replacement exercises? I'm guessing leg press + some sort of glute work?
Edit: I will probably be cutting out only the heavy squatting sets (the 2x5). I think the 1x15 set is challenging but fun. The other one is just torture. I don't feel torture in any other lift.
First, a little background:
My goals:
As some of you remember, I'm a breakdancer. After some analysis, I found out the most important muscles for bboying are back, shoulders, and abs. Therefore, I switched from Rippetoe's to target those areas better.
I also need to bang hotter chicks, and need to look better to that end. I have really long, skinny arms, sometimes uncomfortably skinny. People often think I'm a goof and am flailing my arms when I play sports, even though I'm totally in control; that's just because they're so skinny. Rippetoe's didn't help, all it did was help me put 20 lbs on my legs and make my upperbody strength-to-body weight ratio ****tier.
You may ask, since I certainly don't need the strength in the legs, what about the appearance? The only part of my lower body that needs work are my stick calves, but squats don't do anything there anyway!
This is my workout routine:
DAY 1(eg. Monday)
Squats 2 x 5
Squats or Leg Press 1 x 15 (lighter weight)
Good Mornings or Stiff Leg Deadlifts or Sumo Leg Press 2 x 10-15
Glute Ham Raise or Pullthroughs or Hyperextension 2 x 8
Calf Raises 2 x 10
DAY 2(eg. Wednesday)
Incline Press 2 x 5
Dumbbell Press (Flat/Decline) or Dips 2 x 8-10
Shoulder Press 2 x 8-12
Tricep Exercise 2 x 10-15
DAY 3(eg. Friday)
Deadlifts 2 x 5
Row or Chinup/Pulldown 2 x 8
Bicep Curl 2 x 8-10
Forearm Exercise 2 x 10-15
Lately, I've been slacking a letting myself recover a little too long, so I've been going to the gym about every 3 days.
My issues with squats:
1) They hurt. I actually dread squats whenever I go to the gym, and often put off going just because of the suffering squats cause me. It's actually one of my better exercises, I've maxed at about 1.5x my bodyweight, but it's a taxing exercise that just ****s up your back. Before you guys start nagging about my form, assure yourself that it is perfect (as per an experienced wrestling friend who can squat over 2.5x his body weight). Regardless of what you try to convince yourself, balancing a heavy load on your back will hit your spine, and during the course of the exercise, your lower back is hit hard too.
The last time I did squats, I did one set at 265 or 275, don't remember, and I couldn't do the second because it hurt just getting the bar off the rack. Again, my form is fine, and I could have powered through it, but I thought: "why rape my CNS for an exercise that is functionally useless to me?" Cutting squats out will get me in the gym more, since I don't dread getting my ass kicked again.
2) Legs are heavy.
I'm really looking for upper body and core strength. I could care less about how big or strong my legs are. As far as bboying goes, whatever raw leg strength you would need is covered by momentum in the advanced moves.
Unfortunately, big legs only slow you down and make it harder to be upside down. Granted, you can argue that good technique would overcome the added difficulty of the movements brought on by massive legs, but why make it harder on yourself?
Closing thoughts
1) I should have dropped squats a long time ago. Even though I have grown from them, the growth has more or less been useless, and the time I spent in recovery could have been put to something else (like more breakdancing practice). The only reason I kept squatting is because lifters here insisted that "all programs should be done as listed, don't change them, blah blah." That's a great way of thinking, if your lifting for general strength (which is what most skinny World of Warcraft nerds need). However, it doesn't make sense for a breakdancer to get his legs bigs.
2) I can't wait for some meathead to criticize my "attitude." There will be a deluge of posts that are like, "if you can't do squats, then your attitude needs work, not your *insert pithy analogy here*." That's batsh!t. I've been squatting more than long enough (almost a year) to know the benefits of the exercise. However, if the only reason I should keep squatting is so I can tell my friends that I squat big numbers, even though I don't need to squat big numbers for bboying or for chicks, I'm wasting my time and energy.
3) Note that I'm not dropping legs all together (so don't give me that "omg you're going to look wierd with big arms and small legs.) I'm simply doing doing squats (at least not low volume, heavy weight squats, which are useless in my opinion).
Questions for you:
1) Are there any dangers to not squatting, but doing opposing motions like the deadlift?
2) What are good replacement exercises? I'm guessing leg press + some sort of glute work?
Edit: I will probably be cutting out only the heavy squatting sets (the 2x5). I think the 1x15 set is challenging but fun. The other one is just torture. I don't feel torture in any other lift.
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